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Book 3, Chapter 24
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Reality and Subjective Experience
Free Will
Desire and Irrationality
The Personal Impact of War
Social Alienation
Summary
Analysis
Toru drifts off to sleep inside the Residence, but the sound of bells awakens him in the middle of the night. Intrigued, he follows the sound and arrives at Cinnamon’s office. As he opens the door, he discovers that the computer is turned on, as if inviting him to explore further. On the screen, a program called "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle" is displayed, along with a set of documents numbered 1–16. The title immediately grabs Toru’s attention, and he feels he must examine the documents further. Toru selects document number eight and begins reading.
Everything leading up to Toru's discovery of the computer suggests that Cinnamon purposely woke him up to look at it. Finally, in this scene, the narration reveals the document behind the novel's title. Notably, the file's name comes from a creature that Kumiko named and, as far as Toru is aware, Cinnamon does not know about. Although Toru's document selection is seemingly random, the number eight does recall the hotel room he visits in his dreams (#208).
Themes
